Welcome to Camber Kitesurfing

Description

TECHNICAL EASE

When I think back over all my sessions with the Ultra (and not just this year, but over the years), as one of the first single strut models to be released, it has always been a kite that is initially easy to fly, but also manages to reward you the more technically able you become.

For foiling, the Ultra V4 likes to get forward in the window and can be a reliable ally for both a fast little 600cm² foil, or a slower 1200 first timer’s shape. Although it may seem to drive further forward than you’re used to if you’re coming off a powerful sheet-and-go low aspect kite, it never surges to that area of the window where the lines suddenly seem to lose steering effect. One of the advantages of having just one strut is that kites naturally seem to have this buffer where the wind pushes them back into their steering zone once you lose board speed, but when it comes to upwind efficiency in the single strut field of play, the Ultra V4 leads the march and therefore is excellent for foiling because it will keep up with you as you build up apparent speed.

As you get better and more confident you’ll also really enjoy the fact that the Ultra can be looped back into the central power zone from more or less anywhere, even if you’ve turned in towards the kite and slackened the lines a bit. The loop can also be tailored to a more drawn out arc to lead you through a smooth, wide gybe, or faster for some forward punch if you’re trying to squeeze a jolt of extra power out of a situation.

Overhead it’s always obvious where the Ultra is. There’s a sense of directness from the kite even though it has three pulleys in each side of the front bridle to help smoothly effect the kite’s ability to react and move back and forth. There’s also superb range of sheeting control. For tacks the Ultra loves to get far overhead and into wind because it has such a big sheeting range, you’re effectively killing all power in the kite when you sheet right out, while equally you have this finite sense of being able to generate lift and power when you sheet in. You don’t need to coax the Ultra overhead, it drives there beautifully itself and then if you need to lighten your foot pressure on the board when changing your feet, just sheet in a bit more. You never need to worry about oversheeting the kite and therefore having it stall and hitting that dead spot of power.

You can be rough with it, but the better kite handler you become and the more nuanced your feel for the kite’s position and its performance becomes, the more useful you’ll realise its power access and positioning performance are.